IP Updates

With the increasing development and use of AI systems for all manner of purposes, one question naturally arises in the intellectual property world – is artwork generated by AI systems copyrightable?  The answer, as with many legal questions, is that it depends.  In the instance under discussion, the person [...]

In a recent opinion out of the District of Delaware, Judge Stephanos Bibas revised an earlier decision and, in this instance, granted summary judgment in favor of copyright owner Thomson Reuters and against ROSS Intelligence in connection with ROSS Intelligence’s use of a number of copyrighted headnotes from the [...]

In an interesting and even slightly unnerving opinion from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the appeals court ruled in a keyword advertising dispute that the keyword “conquesting” is not per se unlawful.  Keyword “conquesting” occurs when your competitor purchases your business’s name and/or trademark(s) [...]

In a recent decision from Judge Marcia A. Crone in the Beaumont Division of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, the Court came down pretty hard on an attorney who used generative AI for at least some of his legal research without checking to [...]

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is set to increase several trademark-related fees effective January 18, 2025. Specifically, filing fees will be standardized at $350 per class of goods or services. A notable change is introducing a $100 per class penalty if insufficient information is provided with [...]

The Decision In a recent ruling by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) (view the decision here), Next Step Group's attempt to invalidate a design patent owned by the makers of Ugg® boots failed. The petitioners argued that the design patent, which protects the ornamental features of Ugg® [...]

In a promising development for software-based inventors, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently issued a decision that could ease some of the difficulties in securing patents on software inventions. Over the past decade, applications for software patents have faced increasing scrutiny, primarily because of [...]

In a recent opinion from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the Court underscored the stringent requirements for securing an "exceptional" case finding under the Patent Act (35 U.S.C. § 285). This finding is crucial as it serves as the predicate for awarding attorneys’ fees to [...]

In a recent decision by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), two registrations for the mark "SMART LOCK" were removed from the trademark registry due to improperly identified goods in the registration certificates. This proceeding highlights the critical importance of accurately preparing and submitting trademark applications. Below, we [...]